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Jail for groom-to-be attackers
Gareth Askham and Rebecca Culshaw from Normanton. The couple's wedding came very close to being cancelled, due to a vicious, unprevoked daytime attack on Gareth, that has left him with a broken collar bone. w5848a129
TWO men were jailed after they attacked a groom-to-be as he cycled through a park.
Gareth Askham, 26, was just two weeks away from his wedding to fiancée Rebecca Culshaw when he was attacked by Ryan Burton, 24 and Christopher Selwood, 27.
He was cycling through a field behind the Bronte public house in Normanton in July 2011 when they pushed him off his bike, punched and kicked him.
Leeds Crown Court heard that Burton and Selwood pleaded guilty just before a trial was due to start.
Burton, of South Street, Normanton, was jailed for two years on Wednesday.
Selwood, of Firville Avenue, Dalefield, Normanton, was ordered to serve 16 months.
Judge Peter Hunt said: “It was a cowardly and serious attack, that is because the victim is a man who suffered some degree of learning disability.
“It seems to me he was minding his own business there in the park riding a bicycle. You and others, I have no doubt, had been drinking and as he cycled past he was subjected to a lot of shouting, swearing, abuse and eventually he was attacked.
“He was punched several times and at one point his hood was pulled over his head so that would disorientate him and he wouldn’t be aware of what was going on.
He added: “I know from the victim impact statement that he suffered a lot of emotional distress and fear as a consequence.”
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Tuesday 21 May 2013
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